1. Field
This invention relates to bobbers for attachment to fishing lines, and pertains more particularly to a bobber incorporating a shifting weight so that the bobber itself shifts from horizontal to vertical position when a fish exerts a pull on the attached bait line.
2. State of the Art
Floating fishing bobbers have been long used, serving the dual functions of suspending a bait laden hook a desired distance below the surface of the water, and of providing visual indication of the presence of a fish taking the bait. Large fish may take both hook and bait into their mouths and tug to completely sink the bobber, which provides an unquestionable notice of the fish""s presence. Smaller fish may only nibble at the bait on the hook, causing only a minor, perhaps unnoticed response of the bobber. In the latter event, especially if the bobber is distant from the angler, the presence of the fish may go undetected. Fishing is touted as, and is in reality among the most relaxing of avocations, accompanied by drowsiness and the lack of alert perceptivity needed to notice small bobber disturbances. Small disturbances may even when seen be attributed to gentle waves and breezes rather than to the fish.
Several fishing bobbers have been designed to shift position upon the water when the bait line is tugged. U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,247, comprises a hollow floating ball with an extending stem attached oppositely to the point of fishing line connection. At rest, this bobber reclines upon the surface of the water. The reclining position of the stem upon the surface of the water is maintained by a small float positioned outwardly on the stem. Strong tugs upon the baited hook rotates the ball, raising the stem into the air. Smaller tugs might also alert the angler, the stem then partially rising and falling. The bobber response is largely proportional to the strength of the tug upon the bait line, ranging from small upward motions of the stem to movement to a directly upright position of the stem. After the fish has left, if not hooked, the bobber, because of unstable equilibrium resulting from the center of buoyancy being below the center of gravity, immediately assumes its original reclining position with the stem lying along the water. If the angler""s attention wanders and the fish successfully takes the bait without being hooked, the angler may unknowingly continue to fish with a baitless hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,304 discloses a hollow floating ball with an extending rod called a xe2x80x9cnibbler stickxe2x80x9d. The principle of operation is very similar to the previously discussed design. The nibbler stick provides improved noticeability by multiplying the motion of the ball. As with the preceding design, the bobber assembly is stable only with the extending stem lying along the water surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,885 discloses a bobber assembly including a heavy central washer of metallic or other dense material at the center of a hollow bulbous body. A stem extends oppositely to the point of attachment of the fishing line and the baited hook line. The weight in this location causes the bobber assembly to float in stable horizontal position. A tug by a fish unbalances the bobber equilibrium, rotating it to a vertical position. Should the fish abandon the bait on the hook, or detach it without being hooked, the bobber then assumes a stable horizontal position upon the water, perhaps with a baitless hook.
Clearly, there remains a need for a floating fish bobber which changes it position markedly upon a tug by a fish upon an attached bait line, and does not automatically return to its original position upon the water when the tug is ended for any reason.
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention eliminates or substantially alleviates the foregoing disadvantages and drawbacks in prior art fishing bobber designs. A bulbous, hollow, preferably ellipsoid floating body carries provisions for attaching a fishing line and a hook and bait line at one end of the ellipsoid major axis. An elongate stem extends from the opposite end of the major axis.
Included unattached within the bulbous member are one or more relatively heavy objects, rounded to roll or slide freely. Spheroids of steel or other dense material are preferred. The location of the center of gravity of the bobber is dominated by the massive objects, which gravitate to the lowest point within the bulb, placing said center well below the center of buoyancy of the bobber.
The bobber is initially placed reclining in stable equilibrium on the water with the stem lying horizontal and the rolling weights clustered at near the horizontal center of the bulb.
When the bait is struck by a fish, the bait line end of the bulb is tilted downwardly, causing the weights to roll unimpeded to that end. This shifts the center of gravity of the bobber, creating an unbalanced force couple between the downward directed weight of the bobber and the upward buoyancy force of the water. This rotates the bobber into a stable vertical position with buoyant and gravity forces vertically aligned.
The rolling weights provide great sensitivity to even the slightest of tugs, which are sufficient to completely change the position of the bobber from horizontal to vertical. This very visible noticeable vertical position is stable also, and is maintained whether the fish has been hooked, has stolen the bait, or has lost interest and departed. The prudent angler is then alerted to withdraw the line and bobber to check the hook for bait.
The mass of the rolling weights helps the angler to accurately cast bobber and bait to desired locations on the water. To restore the upright bobber to horizontal position requires only a gentle tug upon the fishing line by the angler. This tilts the bobber sufficiently for the weights to roll toward the midplane of the bulb, restoring the bobber to stable horizontal position upon the water, with gravity and buoyant forces again vertically aligned. The bobber remains stably in either upright or horizontal position, because the mass of the weighty objects forces the center of gravity to always be below the center of buoyancy of the bobber in the water. The sensitivity of the bobber to small tugs on the bait line is greatly increased by the automatic rapid shifting of the center of gravity away from the center of buoyancy, adding to the force couple tipping the bulb toward the upright stable position.
It is therefore the principal object of the invention to provide an improved fishing bobber, wherein the tug of a fish upon the bait changes the attitude of the bobber assembly from a flat position on the surface of the water to an upright one, said position being maintained as long as the angler desires. A further objective is to provide a fishing bobber of increased sensitivity to small tugs upon the baited hook.